Whidbey News-Times

Oak Harbor girls earn state trip | Cross country

Clayton Richardson slogs through the rain at district on the way to earning a berth in the state cross country meet. / Jim Waller / Whidbey News-Times

For the fifth consecutive year, the Oak Harbor High School girls cross country team qualified for the state meet by placing third at the district championships at Lakewood High School Saturday, Nov. 2.

The Wildcat boys, the two-time defending district champions, had their three-year string of state trips snapped, but John Rodeheffer won the individual title.

The top three teams and the top 15 individuals earned state spots.

The Oak Harbor girls placed third in the 11-team meet with 72 points. Glacier Peak defended its team title with 43 points, and Mountlake Terrace grabbed second with 51.

The weather was nasty – cold, windy and wet. In spite of the conditions, most of the Oak Harbor girls ran personal bests, according to coach Eric Peterson.

Jonalynn Horn (19:14.41) paced the Wildcats by finishing fifth. Alex Laiblin, who followed in sixth, ran a 19:27.68 even though she had to stop at one point and retreat to pick up her timing chip which fell off.